"Proved doubters wrong" - Portsmouth FC: Regret over transfer QPR eventually snapped up | OneFootball

FLW's Portsmouth fan pundit regrets the club's failure to strike a deal for Karamoko Dembele in the summer

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Portsmouth may wonder what could've been had they signed Karamoko Dembele ahead of the 2024/25 Championship campaign, with the talented playmaker joining divisional rivals QPR instead.

Pompey's first season back in the second-tier of English football in twelve years hasn't gone according to plan thus far, with John Mousinho's side already seemingly staring down the barrel of relegation after just 15 matches.

Although the Fratton Park outfit were handed a baptism of fire by facing a range of promotion hopefuls such as Leeds United, Middlesbrough, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion along with all three newly-relegated sides from the Premier League in the opening seven matches, they've failed to get off the ground since and head into November's international break in 23rd place.

Pompey did manage to claim their second victory of the season and their first on home soil by defeating 20th-placed Preston North End by three goals to one on Saturday afternoon, but defeats to the likes of Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle, who are both also in the relegation mix at this moment in time, are perhaps an indictment of where Portsmouth are set to spend the season.

Portsmouth's potential Karamoko Dembele transfer regret

One has to wonder, then, just how different their current fortunes would be looking had they been able to successfully strike a deal for Karamoko Dembele, who was reportedly of interest but later ended up joining relegation rivals QPR.

The diminutive playmaker was linked to Portsmouth off the back of a stunning individual campaign in League One with Blackpool and has since impressed after making the step-up to the Championship, emerging among the division's most exciting creative prospects despite his side's struggles at the wrong-end of the table.

When asked to name one player who was linked to Portsmouth and regrettably didn't sign on the dotted line, our resident Pompey fan pundit, Miltos Ioannidis, opted for a recent example by name-checking Dembele.

"The one player that Pompey were linked with in the summer and I had liked the idea of us pushing a deal for is Karamoko Dembele," Miltos explained to Football League World.

"Obviously, Portsmouth were in League One last season and Dembele was on loan to Blackpool, so I remember how he was. He had a phenomenal season with Blackpool and I would've really liked the idea of us pushing a deal to sign him from Brest in France.

"He ended up signing for QPR, he's doing really well there. I think that he would've provided something different in our attack and certainly one of the worries circulating around Dembele, especially at the start of his career, was his height and whether he would cope in a higher, more intense league.

"He's not the tallest guy in the world, but he's certainly proved his doubters wrong and is slowly making a name for himself in the Championship."

Portsmouth's Karamoko Dembele, QPR transfer miss could be key in relegation battle

The concerning takeaway from Pompey's failure to get the deal done is that it could have real repercussions throughout this season, particularly given the proximity of the two sides in the Championship drop zone.

QPR, of course, are currently stuck to the bottom of the table with just one win from 15 matches, although they're only separated from Portsmouth by two points. It's an insignificant gap to overturn, and the two look poised to struggle right at the bottom of the league all season long.

If the R's stay in the Championship, though, then Dembele will surely have had a huge part to play. Elegant and crafty in possession, Dembele makes the most of his low centre of gravity to drift past opposition defenders with ease and is naturally excellent in tight space, as you'd expect.

He's got a keen eye for a pass, too, and can thread the needle at will with his creative forward passing. Dembele is still just 21 years of age, but already looks an inspired signing at Loftus Road - at Portsmouth's expense, of course.

One goal and three assists arguably fails to tell the full story of a player who has been at the heart of precious few positives for QPR while stepping up to assume the side's creative mantle amid both injury struggles and a loss of form from long-serving talisman Ilias Chair.

As things stand, there's a good chance that QPR could get relegated irrespective of Dembele's performances, but they'll be instrumental if they end up staying afloat and could even come back to haunt Portsmouth, who surely would've benefitted from a player capable of opening up defences and breaking lines in the way he does.